The research domain on the Quality of Experience (QoE) of 2D video streaming has been well established. However, a new video format is emerging and gaining popularity and availability: VR 360-degree video. The processing and transmission of 360-degree videos brings along new challenges such as large bandwidth requirements and the occurrence of different distortions. The viewing experience is also substantially different from 2D video, it offers more interactive freedom on the viewing angle but can also be more demanding and cause cybersickness. The first goal of this article is to complement earlier research by Tran, et al. (2017) [39] testing the effects of quality degradation, freezing, and content on the QoE of 360-videos. The second goal is to test the contribution of visual attention as an influence factor in the QoE assessment. Data was gathered through subjective tests where participants watched degraded versions of 360-videos through a Head-Mounted Display with integrated eye-tracking sensors. After each video they answered questions regarding their quality perception, experience, perceptual load, and cybersickness. Our results showed that the participants rated the overall QoE rather low, and the ratings decreased with added degradations and freezing events. Cyber sickness was found not to be an issue. The effects of the manipulations on visual attention were minimal. Attention was mainly directed by content, but also by surprising elements. The addition of eye-tracking metrics did not further explain individual differences in subjective ratings. Nevertheless, it was found that looking at moving objects increased the negative effect of freezing events and made participants less sensitive to quality distortions. More research is needed to conclude whether visual attention is an influence factor on the QoE in 360-video.

Fast track article for IS&T International Symposium on Electronic Imaging 2020: Human Vision and Electronic Imaging proceedings.

This position paper aims to encourage researchers in the field of context-aware public transport information systems to incorporate human-centred approaches more deeply into their methodologies. Current context-aware systems in this domain often take a representational view and employ a data-first approach. Drawing on insights from previous work, we propose a distinction between the objective context and the experienced context. The experienced context incorporates interactions and perceptions to reflect better how we, as humans, experience the world. To measure this experienced context, we advocate for using qualitative research methods for HCI. To demonstrate this approach, we present the results of a focus group study on context in public transport. The results reveal that emerging experiences are shaped by a combination of various factors. These findings highlight the importance of incorporating user perspectives in designing context-aware systems. Therefore, in this paper, we take the position that if we want to improve the context-aware public transport information systems, we need to understand what travellers truly experience during their journey. CCS CONCEPTS• Human-centered computing → User studies; HCI theory, concepts and models.

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